Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Tebow's Greatest Moment Ever at The Swamp: The Promise

Earlier today, I said that Tebow's Greatest Play Ever at The Swamp was the original "Jump Pass." But that wasn't Tebow's Greatest Moment Ever at The Swamp.

That greatest moment ever would be: "The Promise."

Technically, "The Promise" didn't happen on the field of The Swamp. It happened in the media room, after what was -- by all accounts -- a terrible loss for Florida and a particularly painful play by Tebow: His inability to convert a crucial 4th-and-1 late in the game that gave Ole Miss the win. It was the most distraught moment of the Tebow Era at Florida.

But, it can be argued, that without the blown 4th-down conversion, there would be no "Promise." And without the "Promise" (along with the win-or-die mentality that went along with the loss), there would have been no run to the 2008 national championship.

For me, "The Promise" is the defining moment of Tim Tebow's Florida career -- not just despite but because it happened off the field, a measure of his competitive drive and leadership, not just on the field but off of it. Let's revisit, in its complete form: